Disclaimer- If it were mine things would be different. But it's not, so here goes.
"Expelliarmus!" Sirius shouted. He laughed as James' wand went flying across the room. The two were in the middle of a heated duel before Defense Against the Dark Arts. "C'mon mate, you're not even trying!" Sirius egged him on. James grabbed his wand, "Had to give you a bit of a chance!" He jumped up and with one spell had Sirius beat. "I hate you." Sirius said as James helped him up. "I know." James laughed.
"Mister Black! Mister Potter!" The boys froze. They slowly turned around to see Professor Huckman standing right next to Snape. "Mister Snape says you two have been dueling without my permission. Is this true?" "Yes professor." The teacher frowned. He was used to giving Potter and Black detentions. "See me after class about your detention." The boys nodded and returned to their seats. Remus leaned over, "Have fun." He said with a smirk.
"Why is it always us?" Sirius asked rhetorically as he and James walked toward Professor Huckman's room. James laughed as they entered the room. They weren't the only ones though. Lily had also chosen that moment to arrive. For a moment, Sirius thought they were in the wrong place. "Lily, you've got detention?" James said exactly what Sirius was thinking. "Don't look so shocked." She answered sarcastically.
She walked into the room and took a seat. James and Sirius glanced at each other before following her. "Ah. Glad to see you're all on time." Professor Huckman said as he entered the room. "Potter, Black, I hope this is the last time I have to give you two detentions." James and Sirius nodded, knowing that it probably wouldn't be. "And Miss Evans," he turned his attention to her, "Skipping my class is unacceptable." Lily also nodded. "That said, you three will be helping the house elves this evening." They followed the professor to the kitchens. "I will fetch you when your time is up." The professor then left the students with the house elves.
"This is the stupidest detention ever. The elves won't make us work." Sirius laughed once the professor was out of earshot. "Um. Masters Potter, Evans, and Black?" The group turned around to see a timid looking house elf. "I've been told to have you wash the dinner plates." The elf said weakly, not used to giving orders. James started to take out his wand. The elf covered his head. James smiled, "No, it's to do the dishes." The house elf didn't move his arms. "Master Huckman says you are forbidden to use magic." James heard Sirius groan behind him. He put away his wand. The elf returned his arms to his side. "F-follow me please." The elf led the group to an enormous sink that was full of dishes.
Lily took charge. She figured that she had the most experience with dishes and knew best. "Ok. Sirius you scrub, James you rinse, and I'll dry. Got it?" The boys looked at her bewilderedly, "Why, Evans, are you trying to boss us around?" Sirius said sarcastically. Lily walked up to him. "Do you have a better idea?" She got right in his face. "Just listen to her, Padfoot." James said as he walked over to the sink.
After about ten minutes of working, Lily decided to try and talk to James. "So, what's new with you?" James was a bit taken aback by her starting the conversation. Truthfully, he had been trying to decide what to say to her all night. "Oh, you know, nothing really. Just trying to help Remus out." James answered in what hoped was an offhand way. "Yeah, Cad won't talk to anyone about it." Lily said sadly. "She's really upset." "So is Rem," James continued, "and he's got so much else to deal with too." "Like what?" Lily asked curiously. James had a feeling he might have said too much.
"Oh, well, um, school and homework, and the upcoming Quidditch match." James covered.
"You've got all that too. Plus Reese." Lily answered. "Well, I can handle anything." James smiled at Lily. Lily laughed. "How is Reese anyway?" James hadn't been expecting her to bring up Reese. He frowned a bit before answering, "She's good, she's been busy. What with her group and all." He answered. "Do you belong to R.A.W.?" Lily asked. James hated that Lily would think he'd be involved with something so heinous. "God, no." He answered a bit to strongly. "Are you?" "No. The whole thing just seems a bit much to me. Why aren't you involved?" Lily had been expecting James to be enthusiastic about being part of it, not the other way around. "I think it's cruel and unnecessary." James said plainly. "What does Reese think about that?" Lily noticed the look on James' face and hoped she hadn't asked to much. "I just kind of avoid the topic." James said looking at the ground. "Wow. You must really love her." Lily said a little sadly. James looked up at Lily and smiled, "Something like that."
"What about you and Max?" James said changing the subject. "What about him?" Lily asked, not wanting to answer questions. James decided to be frank. "Do you love him?" He caught a quick look on Lily's face before she forced a smile. She decided to steal his line, "Something like that." James laughed.
"That's it." Sirius interrupted. "Wow. That did go fast." James said diverting his attention to Sirius. After a few moments Professor Huckman told them they could leave. The Trio headed back to the common room in silence. When they entered the empty room Sirius headed up to bed. Lily started to go too, but James stopped her. "Lil, can I talk to you a second?" She turned around, "Sure." "I just wanted to let you know that I consider you a friend, and I hope you consider me one." He said quickly. Lily gave him a hug. "Of course." James smiled. "Goodnight Potter." She continued as she started back towards the stairs. "Goodnight Evans." He watched her walk into her room before turning toward his. A previous conversation ran through his head.
"Lily, I like you, and if I can't have you as a girlfriend-- I'd rather be your friend than not be in your life at all."
At least he had part of what he wanted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh' c'mon!" It was Saturday afternoon and the Gryffindors were practicing for the upcoming Quidditch match. James was loosing his patience as Cad, once again, dropped the quaffle. "Let's try it again!" He moaned tossing the quaffle back to Cad. James was very depressed by the time practice ended. If Cad was even able to make a play, one of the chasers would score on Remus easily. Neither of them had been playing very well since the break up. It didn't help James' mood much to see Reese waiting for him on the ground.
"Hey!" She smiled. James faked a smile and gave her a quick kiss. He put his arm around her and they walked toward the castle. "I have an idea." Reese said perkily. "Let's go to Hogsmeade tonight. I feel like I haven't spent any time with you lately." This was true. Between James avoiding her and R.A.W. they were rarely together. James faked a smile, "Sounds great." Reese spent the rest of walk talking excitedly about what they should do.
When James got to the boys' dormitory he found Remus laying on his bed. Remus looked up when James entered. "Hey mate." Remus sounded upset. "What wrong?" James asked. "Prongs, I sucked." He said frankly. "You weren't that bad." James sighed. "Yeah. I was." Remus said as he sat up. James sat down. "Okay, so you were. You're just rusty, that's all." "No. I know I can do it. It's just, well, Cad. I see her and I just freeze up." James frowned. It had been over two weeks since they broke up and he was still moping around.
"Moony, you've got to get over it. I know you loved her, but..." James stopped. He realized how hypocritical he was being. "James, last year you would mope for a month if Lily even looked at you wrong." Remus smiled. James' Lily obsession seemed so long ago. "Speaking of Lily," Remus smiled coyly, "you still keen on her?" James smiled. "You know I'm with Reese."
"Right." Remus frowned again. "Thanks by the way." James looked at his friend, "For what?" Remus gave him a look. It was very hard to lie to a fellow Marauder. James relaxed, "No problem. If hanging with some girl will help keep you safe, then it's worth it." Remus smiled. James hopped up, "Well, I've got to get ready for a date with the devil." Remus laughed, "Have fun." He started to leave but turned back. "Oh, and Lily didn't totally hate you stalking her." He left before James could answer. James stood in confusion. Did she really not hate having James around?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's perfect!" Reese squealed. James and Reese were in a jewelry shop in Hogsmeade. James was wearing his usual slacker apparel and Reese was dressed in, ironically, red. "How much is it?" She asked the clerk. Reese was holding a silver ring with the word "dream" engraved on it. "Hmm. Five Sickles." The saleslady responded.
"I'll take it!" Reese was smiling the entire time. Shopping was her favorite pastime. They headed toward the Three Broomsticks.
They sat at a table in the far corner. They ordered two butterbeers and began to talk. Unfortunately, Reese picked the topic James was least looking forward to. "So I've began recruiting new members for R.A.W." Reese said nonchalantly. "Oh, um, how's that going?" James said awkwardly. "Ok, I guess. All the girls except Lily and Taylor have joined. I haven't talked to the guys." James couldn't believe his ears. "You mean Cad joined?" He blurted out. "Yeah, it took a little convincing, but eventually she saw the benefits of a werewolf free society." Reese frowned and continued, "But that Lily, I don't know what her problem is. She is positively adamant. I'm sure Taylor would join if she did." James smiled. At least Lily was on their side. But how could Cad not be?
"What about you? When are you going to join?" Reese interrupted his thoughts. "Err, well, you know, um..." He searched for words. He wanted to say something to the effect of "when hell freezes over," but knew that wouldn't go well. Fortunately Reese saved him from answering. "Oh my gosh, listen to me. This is supposed to be a work free night!" James nodded and began talking about Quidditch. He knew eventually he would have to tell her no, but at least he could put it off a little longer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Remus hung out with Sirius and Peter in the common room. "Who's she with now?" Peter asked as he sat down. "Jeff Altman, a seventh year." Remus said. The boys had picked up a new hobby. It was called glare at Taylor and whatever guy she's with. And there had been a lot of guys. Almost every night she "studied" with a different one. This made Sirius furious. The rest of the Marauders found it quite amusing. "She hasn't studied with me in two weeks!" Sirius complained.
"She has been a bit busy." Remus said sarcastically. Sirius glared at him for a moment before retuning his gaze to Taylor. "And look at the guy she's studying with," Sirius had a complaint about every guy. "he's a complete moron!" "Sirius, he's head boy." Remus said forcing back laughter. "So?" Sirius said standing up. "Where are you going?" Peter asked, afraid he was about to do something stupid. Sirius just smiled. Remus and Peter followed him to the corner of the common room. Remus knew exactly what he was doing, and with in seconds the entire room was full of fireworks.
Sirius glanced over at Taylor. She looked furious. Her date was too busy watching the display to pay attention to her. "Mission accomplished." Sirius muttered as he headed to the dormitory. He was surprised to find he wasn't alone.
"What do you think you're doing?" Taylor called after him. Sirius turned around. "Whatever do mean?" He answered innocently. "Why'd you set off the fireworks?" She continued to follow him up the stairs. "I just wanted a little excitement." He entered the dormitory and was only slightly surprised when she followed him. "Oh, c'mon! Do you honestly think I haven't noticed you glaring at me?" He sat down on his bed. "You always seemed a bit busy to me..." He trailed off. "Ugg." She growled angrily. "What's you're problem?" She stopped pacing and looked at Sirius. He got up and put his arms around her. "I want to "study" with you." He leaned in to kiss her, but to his surprise she pulled away. "That's all I am to you!" She turned and left. Sirius was confused. What else could she be? She didn't want to be...? "I am so stupid!" Sirius said, finally realizing what Taylor had meant. He didn't have very long to ponder what he wanted before the rest of the gang came crashing into the room.
"How was the date?" Sirius asked. "Not so good." James said seriously. "Both Blair and Cad have joined R.A.W." Sirius glanced at Remus; he looked like he was about to be ill. "What about Lily and T?" He said as he sat up. James shook his head. "Do you think Cad will...?" Sirius paused, not wanting to say everyone's worst fear. "I don't know." James answered. They were startled by a sudden movement. Remus had pulled out the Marauders map and was studying it quickly. He took off without saying anything. The three left rushed over to the map. James got there first. "Where is she?" Sirius asked. "Library." He answered as they ran to follow Remus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Cad?" Remus rushed into the Library. He hadn't talked to her since Halloween, but her joining R.A.W. was the push he needed. He spotted her studying in the back. "How could you?" She looked up. "Remus-" he cut her short. He lowered his voice. "I can understand you hating me, but..." He couldn't bring himself to say the truth. Cad regained her wits. "How could I? How could you!"
Remus was outraged. "Do you think I chose it?" Cad got to her feet. "No. But you chose to keep it from me." Remus quickly looked around. Luckily, the room was empty. He lowered his voice so that even she could barely hear. "What am I supposed to say? "Hi. I'm Remus Lupin I'm a-"" "No." She interrupted. "I thought I knew you. We loved each other. You should have told me before then." "I never loved you." Remus said, immediately regretting it. Cad picked up her books and ran out. The rest of the Marauders had just arrived. Remus collapsed in the chair previously occupied by Cad.
They sat in silence. Each knowing that at any moment the world as they knew it could end.
A/N- Hey, hope you liked this chapter! I'll update after 10 reviews or five days. things to look forward to: a budding friendship, an almost R rated scene, and much more. {the upcoming chapters are my favorite so far!} Quick question: Does it ever officially say in the books what position James played? I've looked like mad and I can't find anything. If anyone knows could you please write it in your review? It'd he really helpful for an upcoming chapter. Thanks a lot!
*~~Siriusly~~*